Studio Notes #90

Hello, Kind People. Here are this week’s Studio Notes™—quick bits delivered to you each Friday.

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Studio DRAMA has done some outstanding custom typeface work for KFC’s new rebrand. I mean, I prefer Dave's Hot, Cane's, or even Popeye's, but The Colonel is nostalgic. As is The Bucket. And their use of type and negative space to create the bucket shape is commendable. Also, props for naming the typefaces Kentucky Fried Serif & Sans. When you're talking fonts, no need to hide the unhealthy fried-ness of it all.

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I don't own one, but I could watch this guy make custom hats by hand all day. A little bit of steam heat and pressure to sculpt them, pressing into wooden forms, elbow grease, etc. Certainly an art form.

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Speaking of pressure, I rented the new film, Pressure, and enjoyed it immensely. It's a nice, compact story about a very specific WWII perspective on the allies' D-Day invasion: the weather forecast. It sounds riveting, doesn't it? But it is! Without spoiling anything, it's gripping—and a part of history I wasn't aware of. ★★★★/5

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Alright, I'll go there. You've twisted my arm. Let's talk...garden hoses. I fell for Pocket Hose's marketing years ago. You know, the one that grows when you turn the water on, and shrinks down when you turn it off. It seemed like the perfect solution. But they don't last, and I'm fairly sure they're designed so that you'll need to buy each season's “upgrade” (usually branded like, “now with Copper Forged!” or “Bulletproof Shielded” or whatever). Anyhow, I left them behind for a hose that's lasted year after year at the dock (and at home) under salty, sun-baked conditions. The Zero-G Marine Hose holds up, wrapped in canvas like a firehose, lightweight when empty, easy to coil, etc. Skip the gimmicky Pocket Hose and get this one.

Look at me, writing way too much about a garden hose with zero kickback—but the content you deserve.

This Week’s Poll

Last week, I asked about hand-coding HTML/CSS, and I was pleasantly surprised to see most of you do just that.

Danmade This Week

I ordered some die struck SERIF pins and decals for the Goods shop this week (using a stretched-out Spagetty). I love some good type wordplay, this one being an homage to a favorite hat I had twenty years ago from the wonderful online shop, Veer, which is sadly no longer in business. Veer sold type and type-related goods and was run by some great folks. It was inspiring stuff.

Thanks for reading, folks! See you back here next week.

Cheers,